Mm, it's not too bad in here.For now that is.Ah, don't give me that puzzled look. You know what you've stumbled upon.
You're most likely wondering ' What's up with this vague, cryptic shit? 'Well, that's to be expected of tales like these, so get used to it.My ' Overseers ' have seen fit to allow me to tell my tale.
Why?Why would I know what goes through their minds?
I'm not one of them. ..Yet. ..I suppose.
Ah, but that doesn't concern you too much, now does it?Oh, where are my manners?
I should introduce myself, shouldn't I?
Ah, but would you really pay attention enough to care?
Perhaps. Perhaps not.Regardless, my Mum raised me to be a polite girl.
My name is Brigit.
Forgive me for not disclosing my lastname.
..Though, perhaps at this point, it doesn't really matter much anymore.AH! Hm. Interesting.He didn't particularly like me telling you my name, though his twisted grin begets his anger.
The others seem...amused.What's that?
You're asking who ' they ' are?
' They ' are my ' Overseers '.
That still doesn't answer your question?Oh, don't worry.
You already know them.
You've always known them for many years now. It's just that you, like myself, have forgotten them.
Not on purpose, I'm sure.But you'll remember them soon enough.I pray that you listen and learn from my experiences...
-P R A N K
I suppose my misfortune began when I got thrashed with a wave of random nostalgia, of which I am quite prone to. Anything from the Ronin Warriors, Zoids models, to the Megaman series, to Pokemon. I, like many others, have known the monster franchise for a greater part of our lives. What with being exposed to the creatures during our fourth or fifth grade of Elementary school.
Ah, good Memories.
I remember obtaining my first Pokemon card. That card was what got me hooked onto the series. The card was a Japanese Ponyta. I was so amazed by this lil' piece of cardboard. It had the prettiest artwork that I'd seen in my short life, and it had these strange markings on it. I'd never seen such things before, and was completely entranced by them. I remember writing those symbols over and over again, so amazed that these quirky lines were a part of an everyday language for people in some distant land..
Heh, forgive me if I sound like I'm starting to rant.
Guess that makes me abit of an ' old soul ', doesn't it?
Hahaha...
Moving back to the story at hand, I was overcome by this tsunami as I was rummaging around in my desk, trying to locate my long lost sketchbook. It was with luck (?) that I found my old Pokemon Red version. The iconic label with one of my favourite fire types still clung quite well, despite the many hours played. I didn't question at the time why the game was not with my others. No matter how messy my room got, I always made sure that my Pokemon games were safe and together. But, I had forgotten that. My mind was flooded and my initial reaction was, ' Oh, NO WAY! '
If my grin had been any bigger, I would have put the Cheshire Cat out of work.
This little piece of ' gold ', as it were, had made me more happier than I had been.
In my foolish excitement, I sent myself on a roundabout goose chase to locate my purple Gameboy Colour. Only to recall that an unfavourable person now owned the device. Not much of a loss, since I still had a Gameboy Advanced still in my possession. Making myself comfortable in front of my computer, I slid the game into the slot, and hoped for the best as I flipped the switch.
Ah, the usual Gameboy noise... and then nothing. Should've seen that coming.
I heaved a small sigh, and said to myself, ' ...Just like a Nintendo cartridge. '
I went through the usual motions that my Generation were familiar with:
Take out cartridge, blow into said cartridge, return it to the console and hope you don't have to do that five more times.
I sighed deeply as I heard the usual intro noises after I had flipped the switch again. A supplementary wave slammed into me after hearing the 8-bit music. If there was one thing I always enjoyed about Pokemon, it was the music. The original games' music always seemed sharper to my ears, which was something that I particularly liked. Pressing A sent me to the start up screen which greeted me with the usual options. Now, I was tempted to start over, but there was a greater curiousity to see where I had left off last. Pressing the A button again brought up the secondary menu, and I laughed at my originality in naming my trainer. ' Red '. Hah, I was about as original as everyone else. I looked further and saw that I had only acquired four badges. My brow furrowed slightly in self disappointment. I was a bit ashamed that I hadn't finished the game. However... here in front of me was a half complete game. My grin game back as I pressed the A button once again.
The scene that materialized in front of my eyes was ever familiar to me. My last save was in a Pokemon Center, with the happy tunes filling my ears. This wasn't abnormal in any sense. I always saved inside a building or some sort of shelter. Bringing up the menu, I checked to see what Pokemon I had with me. Venonat, Raticate, Pidgeot, Charizard, Dugtrio, and Cubone. Well, it was very clear to see which Pokemon that I had favoured the most. It was time to step out and see where I was.
The music that now flooded my ears was one that usually sent a chill up another's spine.
That's right.
I was in Lavender Town.
Now, before I go any further in sharing my tale, I would like to make it known that I never feared Lavender Town. Not it's music, anyway. I was wary of the town because of my personal belief of spirits and paying the utmost respect to the dead. Crossing them always ends badly and lessons are never learned, for others will foolishly do the same things. But I digress. The music never chilled me to the bone, nor did it ever fill my head with an ache or thoughts of suicide. The most that ever occurred was a sunken feeling in my heart that triggered sadness.
With that now in the open, I had my trainer stand in town for a while. It was a while since I'd heard the melancholy theme of this town of Death and Rest, and was a pleasant reminder to me. I made sure that I'd gone through the whole Pokemon Tower escapade, which was already done. Thankfully. Such a tedious part of the game, aside from grinding. With the Poke Flute in my possession, I progressed southward to confront the giant blob of a roadblock, Snorlax.
' Red used the Poke Flute! '
' Snorlax woke up! '
' It attacked in a grumpy rage! '
I could never remember if you could catch Snorlax in this version, but it didn't matter too much to me. I did not really like it all that much. I still made the effort to catch it though. To no avail, of course. Always seemed like certain Pokemon in these games had something against me, and would not allow themselves to be caught by me. I guess I could not blame them for that.
Continuing on with my game, I felt something brush up against my leg. This didn't alarm me as I knew it was my dog, Sandy, who was heading into the empty space inside the desk. She liked using it as a cave. Or at least that's how I always thought of it. Sandy isn't the smartest dog ever, but she's still loveable. Not big either, even though she's a Retriever. But she was the runt of her litter, so that's why. Even runts need love. Hearing her butt thump against the wooden walls and the clicks of the claws against the chair as she spread out to make herself comfy, was comforting. Made me feel like I wasn't completely and utterly alone in the house.
Some time had passed before I even got an inkling of hunger in my gut. Of course, upon fully realizing this feeling, it had only intensified. Funny how that works out. I actually had to mull the thought of eating around in my empty head, before deciding to set my Gameboy Advanced down. I had decided that, since it seemed like there was enough power in the batteries; it would be alright to leave it on. Besides, at this point I was merely browsing, seeing what I had, if anything.
I meandered into the kitchen, my stomach proclaiming its hunger much more loudly than it had before. Then again, my stomach knew it was in the kitchen now. Probably imagining all the foods that aren't in my fridge, but hoping it's there. Oh hunger, how silly you are.
I grasped the handle to the fridge door, and gently swung it open. I soon wished that I hadn't...
As I gazed into the refrigerator, what met my eyes was a horrible sight. Right there, on the top shelf was...my dog's severed head. Blood still dribbled out from the severed appendage, albeit slowly. She still had a smile on her face, which seemed to make this abhorrent image much more unsettling. What intensified this was the fact that her gaze was turned downwards, right...to me. My entire body shivered and shuddered, and my knees felt weak. The muscles in my neck tensed and every hair on my body stood on end.
How was this possible? Who could've done this? This...wasn't happening, right?
A thought struck me.
..If Sandy's head was here in the fridge...then...what was over by the desk?
It was a hard task to try and get myself to look away. It was the train wreck effect in full force. However, I managed it. Slowly, but surely. My hand was still gripping the handle, seemingly glued in place. I was uneasy, but I managed to stand on my tip toes to look over the counter. A noise emanating from the fridge made my heart stop and my body flinched. It felt like I was shaking, but as I looked at myself, it didn't seem as though I was. My nerves were wrecked, that much was clear. I nervously looked back into the fridge and..my brow furrowed a bit. Did... her head look closer to me?
Now...admittedly, my depth perception isn't all that great, but still.
My eyes widened more and I watched Sandy's grin twist into something malicious. A smile not even possible by a dog. Or...perhaps not even possible by anything living. Ah, I really wasn't imagining this. I watched as there was more movement, in the fridge. I would've moved, if I could have. My brain wasn't telling me to move. It...was more blank than anything else. I suppose it ' technically ' shut down, because of the horror it was facing.
I could not help but watch as the severed head reanimated itself. Her beautiful brown eyes were nothing but bits of cold darkness, the likes of which that would steal your soul, if given the chance. I watched helplessly as the head launched itself at me and then...-!
..I was suddenly back in my chair. I quickly looked about, and nothing was out of the ordinary. Glancing under my desk, I saw that Sandy wasn't there. A shiver crawled up my spine as I glanced over at the fridge. Could she possibly be there? I'd seen enough horror fills to know not to relax in this...weird situation. If my ' dog ' was in the refrigerator, I may as well get it over with. I'd rather like my corpse to be found with no shit stain. I sat in my chair for awhile though, working up the nerve. Or...whatever nerve that I had left. Exhaling deeply, I walked quickly into the kitchen and swung the refrigerator door open!
Nothing. She wasn't there. Thank god.
My head was already throbbing, trying to even form any logic to explain this entire situation.
I had to make sure everything was still back to normal. There was only one way to know.
" Sandy! Sandy, come here! "
Nothing. But that was normal though. Most of the time when you called her name, she doesn't come until the third time. Ultimate test then. I grabbed a deli bag full of sliced ham and shook it. In no time at all, I heard rustling coming from the computer room and down the hallway came Sandy. Happy, blonde and hoping for human food. I chuckled nervously. My fear had really gotten the better of me, and it now felt like its weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I gave the dog a few pieces of ham, which disappeared as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. Once she knew that there was no more food to be eaten, Sandy trotted over to the couch and took it over.
I lazily walked back to the desk and flopped into the chair. Side glancing, I spied my Gameboy Advanced which was still on. That's right... I had left it on. But...the batteries still had power? I had no idea how much time had passed, if at all. My sense of time was messed up already, and I was not about to try and figure it out now. That...would've made the pain in my head only intensify.
Huh? Red was facing the screen, and there was a message box open. Strange... I didn't remember leaving that there, or even talking to anyone.
" That was a funny prank, wasn't it? "
Prank? That...wait. What?
I couldn't understand what was going on. A ' Yes/No ' prompt came up. I may have a morbid sense of humour but..that was far beyond anything that even I would pull. I selected ' No ', and another window came up. There were words there, but I couldn't read it. The graphics were messed up as if I'd encountered any of the numerous glitches. The screen started to flash, and the most abhorrent high pitched noise emanated from the speakers. It was so sudden that in my skittishness, I had flinched and dropped the device. Time seemed to slow down from that moment on, and sound distorted itself. I could not help but notice there...seemed to be an underlying sound under the piercing scream of the speakers.
Time returned to normal and the Gameboy Advanced hit the floor, the batteries jostled out of place. The game was off, but in the silence I was frozen. A sound still echoed in my ears, and I realized what that other sound was. ..It was laughter. ..And it wasn't just him that was laughing...
Unfortunately, this was only the beginning to my misfortune...